Happy New Year, dear void!

It’s the sixth day of 2014 and I’m really supposed to be working on my applications, but if everyone did things when they were supposed to, what a god-awful boring world it would be. The last day of the old year and the first day of the new were quiet for me, just the way I like it. There were no fireworks, no noisy countdown, no drunken shenanigans. Just champagne, a kiss, some fried rice in bed, a movie or two and a luxuriously hot bath. Alas, the hot bath also meant that the first thing I read in 2014 was the January edition of Glamour magazine.

Regardless, it’s onwards with the year and with reading. I’m currently deep into The Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2013 (yes, I’m the kind of girl who buys best of anthologies) and it is really, really good. Best of anthologies can be hit or miss, but there hasn’t been a story in this one so far that has left me feeling cold.

I’ve also been dabbling in audiobooks. I got Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement on Audible — they give you one free book to try out when you sign up. I’ve been listening to it at the gym and it’s proven to be a great way to make boring cross trainer sessions bearable but to be honest, I don’t think I would listen to an audiobook anywhere else. Perhaps a subway commute, but definitely not while driving. I find the audiobook experience to be too different from actual reading that it doesn’t feel like reading to me. I can’t get into the book or the characters the same way I can when I read off a physical book or the Kindle. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

In other news, I’m really looking forward to reading and writing more this year and keeping better track of my reading on this blog. To 2014!